In the 99th edition of the I-10 rivalry, the New Mexico State women’s basketball team hosted the University of Texas at El Paso. The Aggies were fueled by Conference USA scoring leader Molly Kaiser’s 32 points, defeating the Miners 65-49 for their 56th all-time win over UTEP.
Staring off strong, senior guard Sylena Peterson nailed her first three-point field goal to give the Aggies an early 3-0 lead. Following the shot, the Aggies struggled to find the basket. The Miners took advantage of this and scored seven unanswered points before the Aggies ended a four-minute scoring drought. Despite the shooting struggles, the Aggies defense prevented the Miners from catching fire, forcing six turnovers and not allowing any three pointers.
Following a sloppy offensive performance, the Aggies nearly doubled their first quarter scoring in the second. After dropping only six points halfway through the period, the Aggies poured in 16 points and forced a Miners scoring drought that nearly lasted the rest of the half. The Aggies limited the Miners to eight points and went into halftime leading 35-19.
The Miners refused to back down and had a dominant defensive third quarter, allowing the Aggies to score 11 points. Despite their best efforts to rally, turnovers and messy play negated the Miners’ comeback attempt. Kaiser took advantage and carried the Aggies by scoring seven of their 11 points. bringing her total to 19 at the end of the third quarter.
With 30 minutes of play in the books, the intensity inside the Pan American Center only increased during the final 10 minutes of the quarter. The Miners did everything they could to earn a comeback win, making 40% of their fourth quarter field goal attempts and limiting Aggie players – besides number seven – to six points.
Kaiser could not be stopped and continued her dominant performance, cashing in 13 points in the fourth and ending the afternoon with 32. The Aggies defensively forced a season high of 27 turnovers and scored the same amount off those turnovers, making six more triples at a higher rate than the Miners. This led to a 15-point victory for the Aggies, despite shooting 37% from the field.
The Aggies claimed their ninth overall win, their second in conference play, and now sit in fourth place in Conference USA standings. The team will have five days to rest up and prepare to welcome Florida International University on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. at home. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
